Sue and Ann didn't say anything. They simply took a step closer to Natalie.
The three of them had discussed this in private for a long time and had come to one conclusion. If they gave in to their parents this time, they would face endless demands and compromises in the future.
This was their only chance to leave, and they had to seize it.
Their parents favored sons over daughters. They were narrow-minded and insatiably greedy.
Natalie and the others didn't come here asking for anything in return. They only saw how pitiful the children were, especially the girls, and decided to help.
She had already done more than enough for them. If they didn't have the strength to stand up for themselves, or if they continued to be soft-hearted and confused, then they would be trapped in this place for the rest of their lives, drained dry by their own families.
They were human beings too, just like the men in their families. Why should they be treated as lesser just because men had a couple more pounds of muscle?
They could live colorful, fulfilling lives, just like the girls Natalie and Taylor had told them about.
They didn't have to stay here, reduced to mere tools for bearing sons, nothing more than a source of blood for their families to leech off.
If they missed this chance, they would never meet another group of kindhearted people like Natalie and her team again.
"Dad, Mom, we've made up our minds. Call us ungrateful or heartless if you want. You've been calling us 'money-draining burdens' all our lives anyway. Now that we can help you earn 10,000 dollars, you should be laughing all the way to the bank."
Sue's eyes welled up with tears as she said in a trembling voice, "If you're worried about not being able to find wives for your sons, then work harder, make money, and move out of this place. Stop talking about how you can't leave this place. I've had enough of that nonsense.
"This place is a wasteland nobody cares about. Life here is miserable, ignorant, and backward. People here are selfish and greedy. We've had enough."
If they had never seen the light, maybe they would have been content living in the dark. But now that they had seen it, they wanted to chase it.
They were only fighting for the right to choose a different path in life. They weren't doing anything wrong.
Ann spoke up as well. "Dad, Mom, if you consider us as your daughters, then let us go."
"Yes! Let us go!"
Lynette stepped between Sue and Ann, reaching out to hold their hands. "We will leave and go to school. We have the right to decide what we want and choose our own path instead of following your unreasonable and selfish arrangements."
"Lynette, how can you be so selfish?" Martin stepped forward. "This is how our village has always been. Women exist to serve the men. If you all leave, how are we supposed to get wives?"
"Then, die." Lynette's eyes were bloodshot as she glared at Martin. "You're a grown man with hands and feet. Instead of working hard to earn money, all you do is laze around and suck me dry.
"Martin, do you even qualify as a man? How do you have the nerve to exist in this world?
"And you, you, and you!" Lynette pointed at the men standing behind Martin. "Other than leeching off your sisters, have you ever thought about relying on yourselves? You're nothing but a pack of bloodsucking leeches. Shameless, greedy parasites!
"Listen to me, Martin. I am leaving this time, no matter what. I would rather die than stay here, drained dry by selfish, shameless men like you."
"Yes! We won't stay either!" Sue and Ann raised their hands and shouted, "We refuse to be blood bags! We refuse to be used by you!
"You're just a bunch of shameless parasites—always taking and never giving. Disgusting! We're leaving, and no one can stop us."
Lynette stood tall and firm, her eyes bloodshot. In the end, she couldn't hold back her tears, and they fell in large drops down her face.
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